| Maria Elena Kyriakou | |
| Birth Date: | 11 January 1984 |
| Birth Place: | Larnaca, Cyprus |
| Instrument: | Vocals |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Occupation: | Singer |
| Years Active: | 2014–present |
| Label: | Minos EMI (2014–present) |
| Associated Acts: | Despina Vandi |
Maria Elena Kyriakou (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Μαρία Έλενα Κυριάκου, in Greek, Modern (1453-); pronounced as /marˈia ˈelena cirˈʝaku/; born 11 January 1984) is a Greek-Cypriot singer best known for winning the first season of The Voice of Greece under the mentorship of Despina Vandi. She represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with her song "One Last Breath".
Maria Elena Kyriakou was born on 11 January 1984 in Larnaca, Cyprus and has lived there since then. She has three siblings; one brother Kyriacos Pavlou and two sisters. At the age of 13, her mother registered her at a music school.[1] Years later, she studied philosophy at the University of Ioannina and during the first year she got a proposition from Giannis Ploutarchos which she did not accept as she preferred to concentrate on her studying.[1] After 2 years at the University of Ioannina she decided to move back to her home country. She then continued her studies at the University of Cyprus. After her graduation she opened her own tutorial class. In 2011, her mother applied for Maria Elena to audition for Greek Idol but did not go to the auditions.[2]
Kyriakou auditioned for The Voice of Greece at the age of twenty-nine.[3] Appearing on the third of the eight blind auditions, she auditioned with "Because of You" originally by Kelly Clarkson—with all four coaches electing for her to join their teams; from which Kyriakou selected Despina Vandi.[4] During the battles, she performed "Hero" against Eva Kanata–with Despina crowning her as the winner.[5] In the second live show, she performed "I Have Nothing" and was saved by the public.[6] In the third live show, she performed "Den Eisai Edo" and was once again saved by the public along with Stelios Mayalios.[7] In the fourth live show, she performed "Hurt" and was saved by the public to proceed to the semi-final.[8] In the semi-final, she performed "Bleeding Love" for her solo performance and "Listen" for her duet with Mando.[9] Kyriakou proceeded to the final after getting 60 points from her coach and 80 points from the public.[9] Her song "Dio Egoismoi" was available on iTunes the day after the semi-final, on 3 May 2014.[10] In the final she performed her original song "Dio Egoismoi" and a duet with her coach with the song "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)".[11] As she advanced to the second round along with Kosmidou and Kintatos, she performed "Because of You", the song she performed during the blind auditions.[11] Kyriakou won the series and a record deal with Minos EMI.
| The Voice of Greece season 1 performances and results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Show | Theme | Song choice | Original artist | Order | Result |
| Blind Auditions | Contestant's choice | "Because of You" | Kelly Clarkson | 9 | Advanced |
| Battles | Coach's choice | "Hero" (against Eva Kanata) | Mariah Carey | 1 | |
| Live show 2 | "I Have Nothing" | Whitney Houston | 2 | Safe | |
| Live show 3 | "Den Eisai Edo" | Dimitra Galani | 12 | ||
| Live show 4 | "Hurt" | Christina Aguilera | 6 | ||
| Group performance | "Hano Esena" (with Team Vandi) | Despina Vandi | |||
| Semi-final | Coach's choice | "Bleeding Love" | Leona Lewis | 7 | |
| Duet with guest | "Listen" (duet with Mando) | Beyoncé | 8 | ||
| Final | Original song | "Dio Egoismoi" | Maria Elena Kyriakou | 1 | Winner |
| Duet with coach | "No More Tears" (with Despina Vandi) | Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer | 2 | ||
| Auditions' song | "Because of You" | Kelly Clarkson | 9 | ||
Maria Elena Kyriakou won the Greek national final and represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria.[12]
Kyriakou is one of the four children in her family among them the known Cypriot footballer Kyriacos Pavlou.[2] [13] In 2006, she married Cypriot sports journalist Gregoris Gregoriou, with whom she has three children; Kyriakou and Gregoriou divorced in 2011.[14]
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRE | ICE | |||
| "Dio egoismoi" | 2014 | — | — | Dio ageloi sti gi |
| "Dio ageloi sti gi" | — | — | ||
| "One Last Breath" | 2015 | — | 35 | rowspan="2" |
| "Mia anapnoi" (Greek version of "One Last Breath") | — | — | ||
Autumn 2015 Horis Esena (Without You) for the show with which it shares the same name.
| Title | Role | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Voice of Greece | Herself | Contestant Winner |
| 2015 | Eurosong 2015 - a MAD show | ||
| Eurovision Song Contest 2015 | Contestant 19th place |